The Sweet Side of Printing
The Mimaki UJF3042FX puts the icing on the cake at Sugart
End User: Sugart
Mimaki Dealer: Elsop Fontisop
Sugart, an innovator in manufacturing and packaging of branded products, has stepped up their offering with Mimaki’s UJF-3042FX, taking their creative concepts to a whole new level.
Sugart (combination of Sugar + art), has been a successful candy manufacturer for over 24 years. Sugart was the first company to manufacture branded, individual sugar packets in the shape of a stick. After achieving success with this concept, Sugart expanded its plant and concept to offer a versatile line of products and services personally tailored and delivered on demand.
Sugart’ clients include private and public companies that are located locally and internationally. Sugart provides these clients with a range of products – from shelf product packaging for chocolates and sweets to specialty packaging for events and promotional items. Sugart also offers high quality sweets wrapped with creative concepts and marketing messages. In addition to these corporate clients, Sugart also provides private customers with creative and personalized products such as invitations and guest souvenirs.
“It all started as an adventure and we gradually became a versatile partner to leading brands and companies in Israel. As a food manufacturer, we adhere to the highest and most meticulous international food standards, including ISO-22000 and HACCP” said Ori Han, Founder and CEO of Sugart.
A Vital Link in the Chain of Quality
Sugart’s production chain requires specialization in a number of areas, and the quality of materials is determined by each link in the chain. Advanced printing solutions are at the heart of Sugart’s value proposition, and are high on the manufacturing team’s priorities.
“My promise to my customer is the very best quality.” says Han, explaining “I am measured by the taste of the candy, the shape of the package, the image color saturation on it, and the adherence to the visual branding.”
Sugart wanted to replace an existing printer with one that would offer the same level of quality and service that Sugart offers their customers. “We looked for a printer that will give us operational stability, reliability and creative freedom. We wanted a machine that could provide us with the certainty that work would be done on schedule and with great results time after time.” adds Benni Sassoon, Head of the Graphics Department at Sugart.
Achieving The WOW Effect
After researching a few alternatives, Sugart found the UJF-3042FX from Mimaki to be the best choice. The machine allows for printing on almost all types of substrates up to 300x420mm and 50mm in thickness. In addition, the UJF-3042FX allows for short, single runs, which means it can enhance the use of variable data printing. For Sugart, this is a key benefit as they are able to offer their client base personalized printing solutions that have high quality and creative output.
Another benefit of this machine is that it gives Sugart the ability to effectively streamline the printing workflow, saving precious time and operational costs. This efficiency is made possible by an auto-primer layer that is applied via the ink-jet. This process eliminates the need for manual treatment, as well as the printer’s nozzle recovery function, drastically reducing printer downtime.
“This machine is exactly what we were looking for. We are really enthusiastic about the white under and overprint capabilities the UJF-3042FX offers. It boosts colors and turns images into a vivid experience. Another truly wonderful feature is multi-layered printing, which allows us to create textures and gives a unique finish to our products” says Mr. Sassoon, “It was a huge leap forward for the studio in terms of substrate diversification. We definitely hear a WOW from our clients when they see the final result,” he concludes.
Supporting a Business Development Strategy
UJF-3042FX enabled the expansion of Sugart’s offering by giving them a wider range of packaging options to offer their customers.
“During the printing process, packages sit within a mold that is cut to extremely precise specifications, to the millimeter. Producing such a mold is a significant expense. When we realized that we have a machine that we can count on, many options opened up to us: we launched packaging from new raw materials, we introduced new packaging for existing customers and we felt safe to hold more stocks and thus reduce costs and shorten delivery times.” explains Han.
This expansion, combined with the benefits of timely and high quality print workflows, have directly impacted the demand for Sugart’s services – as well as their bottom line.
With the possibilities of using new raw materials and packaging molds, the graphic department can now focus on new, innovative printing techniques. These techniques, in turn, will lead to an even more diverse offering for clients.
Putting Technology to the Test
Recently, an important client, the Mayor of a local municipality, commissioned Sugart for a last minute project. A delegation from his twin city was leaving town the next day, and he wanted to have a giveaway prepared for the delegation. Equipped with the UJF-3042FX, Sugart felt confident it could meet this challenge. The next morning a beautiful arrangement of chocolate coins with a memorable group photo printed on the lead was successfully delivered to the parting group.
Me & My Mimaki Contest
Last year, Beni Sassoon, Sugart’s Graphic Department Head, won the Me & My Mimaki contest at FESPA. For the contest, Mimaki asked end users to share a picture of themselves with their Mimaki machine or with the products they created with Mimaki. Seeing as the UJF-3042FX truly helped Sugart’s expansion “take-off”, Beni decided to represent that in his contest entry. Mimaki welcomed the winner in London for a wonderful stay in beautiful London hotel and tickets to the 2013 FESPA Gala Dinner and Event.
